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 Acknowledgments To own the debts accrued in writing this book is delightful. Michael Warner was the first, best reader of many of these pages. Countless felicities of thought and expression are his, and the value of the example he has set for the conduct of life is similarly incalculable. Richard Poirier, Myra Jehlen, and Virginia Jackson have been tough and inspiring critics; it matters deeply to me that they be pleased with this book. For their late readings of the entire manuscript, I owe special thanks to Chris Castiglia, Mary Loeffelholz, and Matthew Parr, as well as to certain lips unknown. I hope they have not found me too incorrigible. My book and I have also thrived on the many good of- fices of Nancy Bentley, Lauren Berlant, Stuart Curran, Colin (Joan) Dayan, Dennis Debiak, Wai-Chee Dimock, Jim English, Michael Gamer, Daniel Harris, Amy Kaplan, Sean Keilen, Christopher Looby, Michael Meranze, Meredith McGill, Michael Moon, Elisa New, Barry Qualls, Esther Schor, David Shields, Frank Shuffelton, Emily Steiner, Julia Stern, Susan Stewart, and David Wallace. I have been extremely fortunate in my teachers at Yale and Rutgers and in my colleagues and students at the University of Pennsylvania and at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. My research and writing have been materially supported by the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the Penn Humanities Forum. I am very grateful to Richard Morrison, Mary Keirstead, Laura Westlund, Adam Brunner, and their colleagues at the University of Minnesota Press for taking such good care of my book, and to the David L. Kalstone Memorial Fund for easing the cost of its publication. It is a great honor to have David Kalstone’s still vital memory associated with this book about the vitality of remembrance. The staffs of the Rare Books and Manuscripts department at the University of Pennsylvania’s Van Pelt Library (especially John Pollack and Daniel Traister) and of the Library Company of Philadelphia (especially James Green, Connie King, and Phil Lapsansky) have been surpassingly generous with their time, resources, and advice. The Local History and Genealogy Division of the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, provided indispensable information at the last minute. For encouragement and forbearance I thank my parents, Joanna and David; my sister Elizabeth and her husband, Kevin; my friends Maggie Robbins and James Meyer; and especially Matthew Parr.  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...

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